Animal rights activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has turned its wrath on classic video-game character Mario, who wears a Tanooki raccoon suit in Nintendo’s new 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land.

There’s a problem when you’re a company like Nintendo, which leans very heavily on its franchise characters year in, year out and constantly goes to its back catalogue. Eventually, you start to hit the bottom of the well and wind up re-packaging stuff that’s already been re-packaged.

Sunday November 7th saw the 40th running of the New York City Marathon and thousands of runners journeyed through the city as fast as their feet could take them. One very special visitor to the city didn’t lace up a pair of New Balance but has nevertheless been running his own personal race for more than two decades.

He may have gotten his start as Jumpman in Donkey Kong, but it was really the release of Super Mario Bros that made Nintendo’s mascot the icon that he is today. The Mario Bros. game were out in 1983, but it wasn’t until Super Mario Bros. came out that Princess Peach’s boyfriend got, well, super. The 8-bit classic came out 25 years ago …